IRISH GARDENING. 



119 



to the rock garden, where it might be accom- 

 modated in a large pocket prepared with peat 

 and sand. The colour is so strildng and the 

 flowers remain in condition so long that the rock 

 garden would gain much in attractiveness at a 

 time when early alpines are on the wane. 



Lilium regale. 



This handsome Chuiese Lily, introduced by 

 E. H. Wilson, is very fine this season, and is 

 welcome if for no other reason than that it is 

 a loam Lily, requiring no fancy peat and sand 

 mixtures. A good deep loam in a sunny 

 position seems to suit it well, though doubtless 

 it benefits, like many other species, from the 

 shade given to the roots by other herbaceous 

 plants growing near it. The large handsome 

 flowers are white within, shading into yellow 

 towards the middle of the tube, while the outside 

 of the segments is shaded with brown. The 

 height is about 4 feet, but might be more in a 

 moister soil. Seedlings are easily raised, and, 

 with care, may be grown on to flowering size 

 in about five vears. Anon. 



being ciliolate." On a close examination of the 

 specimen I find a fair number of black glandular 

 scales on the iipper surface of the leaves, and also 

 minute hairs on the rim of the calyx, so they 

 were evidently overlooked. 



R. yunnanense and R. chartophylluni may be 

 distinguished as follows : — • 



R. yunnanense. — Leaves, especially when 

 young, covered on the upper surface and margin 

 with bristly hairs and small black glandular 

 scales, oblanceolate and tapered to the base, not 

 long-pointed, but merely acute at the apex ; 

 glandular scales on the lower surface rather 

 numerous : leaf-stalks fringed with a few hairs ; 

 flower-stalks not scaly. 



R. chartoi)hyllum. — Leaves not hairy from the 

 beginning, usually more or less elliptic and 

 broadest in the middle, tapered into a. long acute 

 apex, the glandular scales on the lower surface 

 much fewer and more scattered than in R. yun- 

 nanense ; leaf-stalks never hairy ; flower-stalks 

 clothed with scattered glandvilar scales. 



R. yunnanense, especially in regard to its 

 flowers, is much more likely to be, and I believe 

 is, confused with R. Davidsonianum than with 

 R. chartophyllum ; but R. Davidsonianum has 

 no hairs on the leaves, the glands on the lower 

 siTrface are very nearly contiguous, and the 

 flowers arise from several buds, and do not form 

 only one as in both the other species. 



J. Hutchison. 



Herbariun 1 , K e w. 



Correspondence* 



Rhododendron yunnanense. 



TO THE EDITOR OF " IRISH GARDENING." 



Sir, — In your issue of July. p. 100, the writer 

 " B." makes a statement regarding Rhododendron 

 yunnanense which is open to question. He 

 says "... . It is doubtful if there are any true 

 plants of R. yunnanense in cultivation other than 

 seedlings raised from seeds recently sent home. 

 A few comparatively old plants which have been 

 known in gardens as R. yunnanense are now 

 recognised as R. chartophyllum. and were intro- 

 duced to Europe through Paris by the Abbe 

 Delavay some twenty-five years ago." 



There seems no reason to doubt that the plant 

 figured in the " Botanical 31agazine " at tab. 7614 

 as R. yunnanense is the true species. It was 

 received at Kew from ]\lessrs. James Veitch tt 

 Sons in 1894, and first flowered in Aisril 1897. 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, who described the plant in the 

 magazine, was not even responsible for its deter- 

 mination, but it was Franchet, the author of the 

 species ; for Hooker states that he sent a sijecimen 

 to Franchet and he identified it with his R. 

 yunnanense. The chief characteristic of R. 

 yunnanense is the bristly hairs on the margin and 

 upper surface of the yovmg, and very frequently 

 on the old, leaves. These are clearly shown in 

 the figure in the " Botanical Magazine." Hooker 

 says that his plant " differs a little from Fran- 

 chet's description in having no scales on the 

 upper surface of the leaf, and in the calyx not 



Atropa Belladonna. Shade or Sun ? 



Dear Sir, — Atrojja Belladonna, of all the 

 herbs which -we are trying to grow, is likely to 

 be the most profitable and lasting, so it is worth 

 while to consider its likes and dislikes. 



3lr. Holmes tells us that it "only flourishes 

 luxuriantly when under shade of trees." 



Consequently, I transplanted my crop from 

 the blazing sun (where they throve last year) to 

 shade and partial shade. 



They have not grown nearly as well as they 

 did in svm last year. I have put out thousands of 

 seedlings in June in the scorching sun we have 

 hiid — they have been watered, of course — but 

 they are better as seedlings than two year olds in 

 the shade. 



I have i)lanted very strong seedlings in the 

 woods in jierhaps more than half shade and not 

 full shade, and they have not grown at all. All 

 these experiences lead me to suppose that regula- 

 tions as to shade and s\m, just like regulations 

 as to racing, petrol, food, conscription and the 

 like, " do not apply to Ireland." 



It has been found in the Blandsfort garden, that 

 Alpines requiring — by book — full shade, do better 

 in our full sun. Probably it is all a question of 

 a sufficiency of moisture, and Ireland never lacks 

 that. 



It would be interesting if other growers of 

 Belladonna would relate their experiences, for the 

 benefit o*" all who are interested in this subject. 



Yours truly, 



:Miiriel E. Bland, 

 July 171h, 1917, 



